Jaune waited with bathed breath. Waiting for the inevitable moment when the giant fell. Having already released his suffocation rite, dead air replacing every square inch of the room. Choking the life out of the torches on the wall and making vines wither before his eyes.
Yet the giant stood squarely in the middle, unaffected.
Jaune's expression fell as minutes ticked by. The air currents in the labyrinth moving the 'dead' air out in the corridors. Making the spell grow increasingly unstable as the seconds ticked by.
Normally Jaune wouldn't initiate a fight. He hadn't touched the friendly crow in Hemwick, and he didn't want to kill something else that had the potential to be friendly. Even if that potential was miniscule, and the friendliness came as a byproduct of being undead. He hadn't stepped into the room proper yet, so the giant was still friendly, even if passive was the correct term.
The room was barren, no chest, no door, no nothing. Just tall pillars, and a room that looked closer to a gladiator arena. It certainly had the piles of corpses and bones to fit. Beside the giant, and the piles of bones, the room was empty. Yet his spirituality screamed at him. That this giant was important. Why, he had no idea, but it's presence was different, heavy, an anchor of sorts.
Leaning against the doorway, plans ran through his mind. If the giant had the same limberness of his kin, the fight wouldn't be too hard. Shaking his head, he looked like he swallowed a lemon. Running a finger over the bend in Crocea Mors, a reminder that he needed to further fortify his weapon. While the giant's slowness and stiff movements made it an easy opponent. That ease disappeared right out the window the second if the giant had an 'unbreakable body' as most giant's had in legends. That it's arms were cut of, replaced with blades, each one the length his legs, made it all the more dangerous.
Yharnam giant's might be slow, lumbering creatures. But they were strong. Dwarfing Nora so much it wasn't even funny. A well-placed hit able to take over half of his aura. Two would leave him gasping for breath half dead.
"Decisions, decisions." He mumbled, eyes landing on the still living candles on its back. The semblance of a plan in his mind. The chains attached to its back sparking confidence in his stupid plan. 'But if it worked, it wasn't stupid, was it?' He rationalised.
Already palming the oil urn. The last he had, but it would serve its purpose well. Throwing it with all his might towards the giant, he dashed into the room right after. Greeted with a guttural roar as the undead came to life. Fire cloaking it's form as the urn crashed against its skin. Another roar escaping it as it began lumbering towards him. Moving with the slow predictable speed of its kin, each step thundering with power, sending tremors through the floor. The piles of bones falling apart.
Jaune paid the falling mounds of bones no mind, dashing between its legs, Crocea Mors drawing a thin red line on the inside of its knee. Barely drawing any blood. Grabbing the chain with his free hand, he pulled, the chain rattling and holding strong. As the giant burned and tried turning, Jaune pulled the chain with him as he ran, sliding between the legs again as he ran around it's legs in a figure-eight.
Slipping under a blade that was ready to impale him. Heaving as he pulled the chain, afraid it would snap as it coiled around it's legs. His worries were unfounded, the chain held, digging into the giants legs and pulling the legs together.
With another heave, he pulled again. Bending around a column, the giant tripping over. Moving to step forward, hobbling instead, and coming crashing forward instead. The second it was down, Jaune drew his revolver. Fanning the trigger as thunder deafened the room. Five silver bullets crashing into its burning skull. Black grey-matter dripping down it's forehead as it roared. Stil clinging to life as it tried making its way over to him.
Holstering his revolver, Jaune charged at the giant. Slipping under a blade and bringing Crocea Mors down again and again into the cracked skull. Not stopping until the brain, and it's entire head was thoroughly destroyed. Only allowing himself to sigh in relief when the giant began undergoing rapid decomposition.
"I love it when a plan comes together." Jaune mumbled relived, taking a step back. Not minding the disgusting smell of rot. The giant's corpse bubbling as skin dissolved, organs rotted and festered, bones turned to dust, teeth exploded like popcorn. "And that is why you never create undead, expect the moral and ethical implications of course. When they die, all the time they 'cheated' will be taken returned them."
Blinking when he looked around and didn't find Violet. Sheathing his sword, both hands coming up to slap his cheeks. The pain bringing with it clarity. "Get it together Jaune. Don't let the labyrinth get to you."
Looking around the room, he tried finding something to connect the giant with. It stood guard over something, but the room was empty. There was nothing that deserved protection here.
In the end, his eyes landed on the tarlike pool, the only thing that remained form the giant. It smelled worse than rotten eggs, a persistent smell of rot and decay wafting from the pool. Singeing away his nose hairs as he stepped close. The black tar clinging to his boots as he stepped in it, moving to climb up, but he pushes it away by coating himself in his aura.
The tarlike substance dissipating with a soundless scream when it came in contact with the light of his soul. The pool receding as more was 'purified', grabbing the bone amulet, Jaune got his answer for what it had guarded. A presence radiating of it. But it wasn't the presence that drew his attention, it was how it seemed to be a part of a whole.
"Well…" Jaune sighed, already knowing what and who carried another piece of the amulet. A scent of fire and brimstone tickling his nose, making him grimace.
"Not yet." He mumbled, running his hand over the chipped edge of Crocea Mors. "Tomorrow… tomorrow…" He whispered, glad that the labyrinth was teeming with blood stone shards. Beside coldblood, and ritual blood, his stash was quickly growing. From blood stone shards strewn about, to a chest filled with the brim with throwing knives, he had even tumbled upon an old medical cabinet filled with blood vials, antidotes, and some sedatives. Some of his luckier finds had been some sort of witches laboratory, where there had been hemlock broth and gallnut broth stew around. A fast-acting poison and a fast-acting paralytic. Giving him more options than to just coat his weapon in fire.
Of course while there had been good finds, there had been just as many questionable ones, and some downright bad ones. The cast iron pan had been a nice surprise, the flesh-eating mold on it, not so much. He got his grubby hands on a chest filled with coins, so he had that going for him. But he also found pellets that temporarily boosted 'beasthood' when ingested. A type of medicinal pellet that would forcefully trigger a rapid transformation that heightened both strength and ferocity for a period of time.
However, the deeper into 'beasthood' a hunter, or anyone, fell. The more they would lose control of their actions and become consumed by frenzied bloodlust. Something he had experienced. Even just falling would leave scars, let alone willingly diving deeper into bloodlust.
"What more is the Labyrinth hiding? Even more beast blood pellets? The church would hang someone for just possessing them. But why are they here? How deep did the Byrgenwerth's scholars explore exactly? Was the blood something they found in the upper floors? Bait to lure them deeper? Was it a reward from the deeper strata's, floors, or depths? Is there something more valuable even deeper?" Biting his tongue he stopped himself before he could spiral further.
"No. No." He whispered shakily to himself. Shaking the thoughts away, the chill creeping up his back disappearing. "Don't think too deeply. Just… I need to search the Gascoigne household tomorrow. Don't think any more complicated thoughts."
Setting the goal for himself, he ignored the whispers of the labyrinth. Finding out if Violet's father had consumed multiple pellets being far more important than delving deeper. The pellets might be a temporary power boost with more drawbacks than boons. But for those who didn't have the luxury of the Dream, a power boost no matter how cursed, was worth its weight in gold.
But that was a matter for after he killed the Vicar. He hadn't found any black hearts so far, and he didn't want to try and create some either. While he was capable as the Alteration Aspect lent itself towards flesh-shaping and manipulation, with all curses targeting the body, he didn't want to try experimenting with the more creative spells yet. It wasn't that he was afraid, his interest laid squarely in the immediate and the combative.
Learning how to create black heart's would take time, time he could spare by simply freeing the Vicar and her guards. Even if he had been eyeing one of the creative spells, his next project in mind.
After all, why waste a spell slot to cast Cognitive Purge to rid any mental effects when he could hopefully find a way to something permanent.
#####
Lying down on his bed, Jaune mentally went over all the things that had happened the previous night. Noting down things he could have done better in his notebook. Eyes landing on the name Aurora multiple times. He wouldn't apologise for not being able to say no, especially when saying so would lead her down a path that would undoubtedly end in him digging her grave.
"Did something happen last night?" Ren asked, it was Saturday afternoon, and as he promised yesterday, he was going to spend the entire day just relaxing. Even if the labyrinth's influence had made it feel like he had been wandering for two days. 'I must have really been out of it last time.'
"What gave it away?" He asked, letting his notebook fall on his face. Lazily kicking his leg over the side of his bed. Shooting a quick glance over to Violet on his other side, his apprentice completely immersed in the comic Ruby had recommended her. Said reaper's rose petals still littering the floor as she had team training. 'Hypocrites. Calling me out for training during the weekends but doing just the same.'
"Well, for one, Violet have been more prickly than normal."
"I'm not pricky!" His apprentice huffed, shooting Ren a sharp look before leaning back into the crock of his arm with her comic in hand.
"Say… Ren. What are your thoughts on another apprentice." Jaune asked absentmindedly, just throwing the idea out. Gently wrapping an arm around Violet as she stiffened. Interrupting what more Ren was going to say.
"God damn it Jaune." Ren sighed. The exasperation in his tone unmistakable. So was the tired look in his eyes.
Jaune let him to his frustration, gently running his hand trough Violet's hair in an attempt to calm her down. Comic thrown to the side as she sought comfort, his carless words having made her fear of abandonment rear its ugly head. Whispering reassurances, he waited for Ren to speak.
"Have your brought this up with the headmaster?" Ren asked, sighing and pinching his browns when he gave him a look. "Of course you haven't." He sighed. Quickly cleaning up his calligraphy tools before standing. "Personally, I'm not against it. However, I don't think the staff would take kindly for another child just popping out from nothing."
"But do we really need to bring this up with the headmaster?" Jaune asked, ignoring the tired glare Ren sent him.
With a huff he kicked his legs out of bed, getting up while Violet clung to him like a koala. Gently letting her down, he knelt down with her. A soft smile on his face. "I'm not going to replace you. I… I just want to give your sister a safe place to be before she decides to do something stupid. A temporary thing so she can heal."
If Jaune heard Ren snort, he didn't let it show on his face. Instead giving Violet a kiss on the forehead as he took her hand in his and followed Ren out. Not thinking for a second that leaving her alone in the dorm would do her any good. 'Especially with what happened the last time she was left alone'.
"I honestly thought you would be more against it." Jaune said softly, throwing out something to say so they didn't walk in silence.
"I grew up on the street Jaune." Ren said calmly, pink eyes staring impossible at him. "Someone coming to save us, taking us in, giving us a safe place, that's every street rat's dream. Even if we all know that sometimes the hand reaching out is filled with barbes and poison, many still grab it. Because it can't be worse than living on the street. And… now I can be there for someone, just as I wished someone had been there for me. Who knows, maybe I will start an orphanage when I retire."
"Orphanages kill children and harvest their organs." Violet butted in, hiding behind Jaune as she glared at Ren. Both teenagers taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Or that is what my friend Susan said to me. And she lived in an orphanage." Violet continued with only the self-surety a child could muster.
Part of Jaune wanted to brush it off as just something a jealous orphan said in a fit of jealousy. But knowing that this was Yharnam they were talking about, he was leaning more towards it being a cry for help. That having her organs harvested was an actual threat.
"I will look into it." Jaune said slowly, getting confused smile from Violet. "But you know Ren, don't you. The only threat the children he takes inn is dry wit and having to drink leaf water."
"Ewww, leaf water." Violet cringed. While she obediently drank the improved health-herb mixtures, she had begun to loudly declare her hate for them after she grew more comfortable.
"It's a refined taste." Ren smiled faux haughtily. "Just not let Professor Goodwitch hear you disrespecting her favourite beverage like that."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Jaune rolled his eyes. "But should we knock on Professor Goodwitch's door, or see if the headmaster is busy? We were lucky that we were let in last time, even if he has an open-door policy, it's still the headmaster. And I don't want to interrupt if there is a meeting."
"The headmaster sent a mail saying that Professor Goodwitch is in his office, and he is eagerly wanting to hear about another possible 'materialization'." Ren called out, showing him the mail. Making Jaune blink in shock, he knew Ren could be sneaky when he wanted to be. But he hadn't even noticed. 'Am I so out of it?' Jaune thought, gathering himself quickly. 'Maybe I should hold the cognitive purge ritual for myself, rid myself of the Labyrinth's influence if there are any lingering effects.'
"Let's go then." Jaune shrugged. Glad to have something else to put his mind to. Thankfully the walk to the elevator was quick, and the elevator rider quicker. His mind wasn't spiralling, his bloodlust wasn't trying to break out of its cage, his violet emotions were on the down low. All in all, he was more prepared for this meeting than he was last time. Letting out a deep breath, he stepped out the second the elevator doors opened. Violet nervously clinging to him as they took in the headmaster and Professor Goodwitch.
"Good afternoon, please take a seat." The headmaster called out with a grandfatherly smile. Taking their seat's, Violet didn't hesitate to jump back into his lap. Looking unnerved to be here.
"Mr Lie have brought something interesting to my attention. The possibility that you might materialize another young charge. Is that correct?" The headmaster asked gently.
"That would be correct." Jaune answered bluntly. Ignoring how Violet pouted at him. More than a little crass that she will be getting competition. "I… don't really know where to start… but we thought it would be better to inform you."
"And that is something we are grateful for." Ozpin nodded, his grandfatherly smile never disappearing. "But for where to start, why don't you introduce him, or her, to us? From what we have observed of Young Violet, you don't materialize empty reflections like Miss Schnee is capable of, Violet's soul is a testament to this. However when you were here last time, it looked like young Violet had some prior attachment to you. Finding comfort in your presence. Maybe you could start from there."
"Well… Aurora, that's her name, is Violet's older sister." He started, getting two nods. Ignoring how Violet pouted at the mention of her sister's name. "She is twelve, maybe thirteen… She is a quick learner, malnourished, and she is a whore."
"Excuse me?!" Professor Goodwitch bellowed. But it was nowhere close to the shriek he got from Violet. His apprentice throwing herself from his lap, violently tearing her dress apart as she frantically muttered "Dirty. Dirty. Dirty." The entire while.
"You heard right." Jaune replied softly, ignoring the heat in her eyes. Bending down to Violet before she could further tear her dress. Wrapping her into a hug, feeling how she shivered. "Or, maybe whore, isn't the right word. 'Petal', or whore apprentice, is the correct term."
"And that is supposed to be better?" Professor Goodwitch seethed. More than justified in her anger. Even the headmaster was looking at him with sharp eyes. Waiting for him to explain himself.
Jaune sighed, taking off his coat and throwing it around Violet. Not wanting her to stand in threadbare clothes. His apprentice still running her hands over herself under his coat. "No, it's not… But it's either I take her on as an apprentice, or… I don't want to say she will kill herself. But she is in a very fragile mental state, where rash, and stupid, decisions sound smart. If someone die in the Dream, they are dead. The only reason Violet here is alive is because I made it in time. And… I won't apologize for being unable to say no to a girl, when I know doing so would have me digging her grave."
At the mention of the time she almost died, Violet stopped trying too 'clean' herself. Instead wrapping his coat tighter around her. Lifting her up, he sat back in his chair. Bouncing her gently on his knee.
"There is nothing to apologize for." Ozpin said gently, his grandfatherly smile straining slightly, looking more tired than ever before. "This Dream, as you called it. I take it that is your semblance?"
"Yes." Was his simple answer, sharing a quick glance with Ren. Knowing in an instant that he would have his back if he shared some of his semblance or if he chose not to. "I won't go into detail, however what happens in the dream is real. I, as the 'dreamer' can take things out of the dream, or I can take things with me into the dream."
"Fascinating." Ozpin hummed. "I won't say I can understand, but it is truly one of a kind. It is unfortunate that it is forcing you to make an impossible choice. I take it that it is this Dream of yours that have allowed you to fill in as quickly as you have?"
"Yes, whenever I sleep, I awaken in the dream. So I have eight more hours a day than the average person, giving me more time to work on myself. But that is now why we are here." Jaune explained curtly. Not wanting to talk any more about his semblance. He had kept everything as vague as possible, but he didn't want the headmaster to dig any further. Not liking the twinkle in the headmasters eyes.
"You are correct. Do excuse an old man his curiosities." Ozpin replied good naturally. "However, let us get back to Aurora. You said her mental state was frail. How frail exactly."
Now wasn't that the question of the century. Violet had threatened both Nora and Pyrrha on gunpoint when she first materialized. The only reason Violet called down so quickly was she trusted him and might even idolize him. He didn't have that safety net when it came to Aurora. She was more of a wildcard. He didn't know her properly, but the crux of the problem was simple. Violet had trusted him, Aurora didn't.
"Best case scenario is a mental breakdown." Jaune finished. Because there was no need to say more. Ozpin and Glynda looked at him, trying to figure out of he was joking or speaking the truth. Even Ren have him a long look. The only one who didn't look at him was Violet, having instead tried to dig deeper into his embrace, not liking the sudden choking atmosphere. "It's… well… she and Violet recently lost their entire family. It is the reason why Violet almost died; she went looking for her mother. However, even if Aurora has a safety nett in Ariana, her mentor, waking up in Beacon, an unfamiliar and unknown place, will give her mental whiplash. I just don't know if it will be enough to knock over the tower of cards that is her psyche or not.""
"And you still think to 'materialize' her. Isn't there a way you can stop it?" Glynda asked carefully. Her glare taking softening as she turned to Violet. Connecting the dots in her mind about Violet's behaviour.
"I don't like what you are insinuating. And as I said. I won't push a thirteen-year-old into the grave like that. I don't want to take her on as an apprentice, but I don't want her to die either." Jaune hissed, eyebrow twitching as he glared at her.
"Is there someone else in this Dream of yours she is willing to, or can, apprentice under instead? Maybe there are some other options you haven't thought of? You do seem quite attached to her already. Are you letting you emotions colour your perspective?" Ozpin butted in, shifting his attention and rising temper to something else.
"There isn't." Jaune spat. "Not someone who will give her what she will need. They won't train her. They won't help her. They will just put a weapon in her hands and go, 'There are Grimm here. Kill them'. Expecting her to be combat ready without a day of training in her entire life."
"And do you see yourself capable of offering her what she needs?" Glynda asked with a pointed look.
"No." Jaune answered honestly. The words taking the winds out of his sails. It hurt to acknowledge, but he wouldn't mince words. "I don't. But I know that I can offer her a safe place where she can learn to heal. From what I have gathered, she needs to feel important. She need's her sister to rely on her."
"This is a most unfortunate situation you have found yourself in Mr Arc." The headmaster said softly. The grandfatherly smile never having left his lips. Pouring a bucket of cold water over his rising temper. Biting down on what he was going to say, he took a deep breath. "It is clear as day to see you have thought much about this. However, before we go further, answer me this honestly Mr Arc. If you were to stumble upon another child in this dream of yours, surrounded by just as bad circumstances if not worse. Would you be able to say no?"
"That… I… I don't… I don't know." Jaune eventually managed to mutter out defeated. The headmasters expression softening slightly as he sighed.
"I feared as much." Ozpin muttered, eyes shining with gentleness. "You must know that this is not me wanting to be cruel. Personally I am of the belief that you children are the hope of tomorrow. And while it might be callous of me to say this, as your headmaster, your wellbeing comes first. I can understand that you want to help as any as possible, a noble goal, truly. However life is seldom fair. Sometimes you have no choice but to choose between two evils, and sometimes you have to say no. Should Aurora become another apprentice of yours, I will forbid you from taking in anyone else. Even now I want to stop you from taking in Aurora. But I know a lost cause when I see one."
Jaune didn't feel ashamed, even if the headmaster looked at him with disappointment, he wouldn't break his word. Because at the end of the day, Aurora would be alive. Being a hunter might not be glorious as much as it was an accursed existence, but she would be alive. 'I only hope she can find it in her heart to one day forgive me.' He lied to himself, hoping for such a day to never come. Already resigning himself for her hating him for the rest of his life. Not that he didn't deserve it. 'But at least she will be alive to hate me.'
The headmaster sighed again when he looked at him. Violet sitting stiff as a board in his lap. "You alluded to that she might experience a mental breakdown. Are you certain of this?" With a nod, the headmaster sighed, rubbing where his glasses rested. "Please tell me that you have any ideas about how to mitigate this? And are you sure you didn't misdiagnose her? Thinking the worst and reading her wrong?"
"Well, Ren's semblance is one way." He said, getting a nod from his silent friend. "Then there are some sedatives I have from the dream. I don't want to use them, but if she grows hysterical, I will give her a small dose to calm her."
It was a callus and heavy-handed approach, but he coulndt think of anything else. He could always sing, or chant, but he didn't want to further muddy the line between the waking world and the dream.
The times he sang lullabies for Violet didn't count.
But he knew that if it came to it, he wouldn't hesitate to do it.
"I can't allow that Mr Arc." The headmaster sighed for the nth time during this meeting. "While Auora might be a manifestation thanks to your semblance, she is still a living person with a soul. That means that Valean law applies to her when she materializes, just as Valean law applies to Violet. You are unlicensed, and sedatives are not something you can administer to an unwilling patient."
"Then I am out of ideas." Jaune replied curtly. Feeling his patience beginning to thin. His bloodlust roaring at him, asking him how he could willingly step into such a position of weakness. Hand almost twitching towards the pocket where his pocket flask had been. Something he had replaced with Gilbert's pipe.
He had never smoked, and he never planned to. But it helped keep him grounded, and not spiralling in the hellscape he called his mind. The dream bringing out the worst in him, letting it fester, pushing him to accept it, pushing him to break again and again.
"We will think of ways to help you. Trust your team to be there to help you. On that note, is your team aware that you may be gaining a new member?" The headmaster asked. Making Jaune cringed.
"No? It's a new development. Last night new." Jaune answered. "I floated the idea by Ren earlier. And here we are."
"Here we are indeed." Ren chuckled with a shake of his head.
"It was wise of the two of you to bring this up with us." Professor Goodwitch added softly. There was still heat in her eyes director at him. But Jaune didn't pay it any mind. Instead looking at the headmaster as he spoke.
"On a similar note, when do you foresee Auora materializing on the earliest?" Ozpin asked.
"That depends… I want to say after our first assignments, but I don't want to jinx it. She is a lot like her sister, impulsive, and not willing to take no for an answer."
"Hey!" Violet called out, looking affronted. Raising an eyebrow, the fight quickly left her. He didn't need to remind her of when she ran out in the night.
"That reminds me. What will happen to our assignment? What about Violet?" Jaune asked.
"Absolutely not." Professor Goodwitch called out without hesitation. Shooting a glare at him as she turned to the headmaster. "You can't allow this… this madness to continue any longer. There is one thing to shelter the girl at the school, where we can look over her. But to bring her out in the field is madness."
"On that I agree." The headmaster nodded. "We will find something else for your team to do. It will still be a full-on assignment, but I cannot in good conscience allow you to bring a nine-year-old into the field. Even if a licensed huntsman or huntress will be there, no, you will get another assignment."
Jaune wanted to be angry, to tear into the headmaster. Forcing himself to lean back on his chair, he breathed out heavily, feeling both lost and grateful together with a host of violent emotions. Not knowing how much he had needed to have someone set their foot down. While he loved his friends and team dearly, he coulndt help but think them enablers of his bad tendencies every now and then. Never stopping him when they should. It was much the same with Gehrman, as long as he killed beasts the old man would never go out of his way to stop him. Unless he monumentally fucked up or did something beyond stupid. 'Like taking on an apprentice when he wasn't ready.' His mind supplied.
Being allowed to run rampant in Yharnam, for what felt like months on end, had made him feel less and less like a student.
The headmasters words, harsh as they were, brought with them a startling realisation he had wilfully ignored. 'I'm also a kid.' His mind whispered. "Is there anything else?" Jaune muttered softly, ignoring what his mind whispered. He might be a kid, but he coulndt allow himself to be one any longer.
"It might feel unfair, as if we are babying your team. However we won't let any harm come to Young Violet if we can prevent it." Ozpin said with finality.
"I understand." Jaune grumbled out, shooting a look at Ren. Knowing that they would find a way to break the news to their team. Familiar anger gnawed at his mind, with an iron will he clamped down on the anger and slammed it back into the back of his mind.
"It's good that you understand." Ozpin nodded. "We have given you mostly free reign when it comes to your semblance. Something we offer to all our students given that they don't abuse the privilege. They are after all expressions of the soul. However, we won't stand idly by as you put Young Violet in undue danger. As it stands, you will get your team assignment on Tuesday instead of Monday."
"Is there a reason for this?" Ren asked, speaking up for first time.
"You honestly don't expect that six people will do well in a dorm designed for four people, do you?" The headmaster asked, hiding a smile behind his coffee cup. Shifting the topic to something lighter.
"Excuse me?" Jaune asked, not knowing if he had heard right.
"It is my hope that a more 'open' room will be able to ease the panic in young Aurora's mind when she inevitably appears." The headmaster continued. "Of course you won't move in today, we have to choose the room and prepare it first, but you should be able to move in after the dance, before Aurora materializes. And while Violet is still young, she will begin growing soon, won't she. Having a more spacious room that a dorm for four will make for an easier transition".
Slowly nodding, Jaune mentally went through everything the headmaster just dumped at him. A grateful little smile on his lips. With Violet their room had grown comfortably small. The dorm had grown warmer, but it felt crammed at times. While he hadn't been in the exactly right headspace when he gave Aurora the chance to prove herself, he didn't regret it. But he would regret making his team uncomfortable by forcing them to live so close to another.
"Now, we are willing to trust you with this privilege, don't abuse it." Ozpin insisted, giving him a hard glare. Jaune nodding with determination. "This is not favouritism. Team JNPR will be treated like every other team at this academy. It would have been the same if anyone in Team JNPR had been with child."
"How many teams actually are with children?" Jaune coulndt help but ask, Ozpin's grandfatherly smile turning more humorous. "More than you would think, but not enough to be anything close to a problem."
"However, to get back on topic. Mr Arc, your elective will also be chosen for you, effective coming Monday. You will be required to attend classes. I will sign you up for psychology, with your other elective being something of your choosing. This is non-negotiable. While a less popular elective, you need to properly learn how to help Violet and Aurora navigate their traumas before they grow comfortable with the idea of therapy. Something which is also non-negotiable. This isn't something we have pushed for, as we wouldn't want to lose what progress you have made with Violet. However it is something that Violet will be required to do."
"What is therapy?" Violet whispered, earning a soft smile from the headmaster.
"You can think of therapy as a form of mind healing." Jaune explained simply, painting it in a way that would be easy for her to understand.
"But there isn't anything wrong with me? I'm not broken?" Violet asked lost.
"You are not. But sometimes there are events that bring with them traumas, mind scars if you will, that can be harmful if left to fester." The headmaster finished softly, his grandfatherly smile back. Picking up from where he had started. "But you answer, Mr Arc?"
"I can do that, yes." Jaune replied with a nod. While it was something that came a bit out from left field, he didn't see any harm in it. Part of him was glad that the teachers actually cared, pushing him in the right directions for him to grow, and setting their foot down when he stepped over line. 'What I wouldn't do to have Gherman give me some sort of direction. I'm running around like a headless chicken. Making up plans as I go along.'
"Good. Good." The headmaster said firmly, before muttering it again under his breath. "Mr Arc, while your semblance is unusual to say the least, you are not the first one with an unusual semblance to walk these halls, and neither will you be the last. We will do our best to offer you all the help you will need."
"Thank you." Jaune smiled, it was frail, brittle, tired. He was grateful, but it felt a bit like they were getting special treatment. Something he knew no one in his team would like. He didn't like it either. He was starting to regret being smart about it and having this meeting when it would just have been easier to beg for forgiveness instead of asking for permission.
"Then I think we are done here for now." The headmaster called out. Gesturing for them to take their leave. "Mr Arc, you will be sent a list of extra reading material regarding children and young teenagers in their developing years. Your first tests in psychology will be geared towards those topics. I hope I can convince you to not go through with this, but it would be hypocritical of me."
With a nod he sat Violet down, quickly picking up the flakes of cloth she had torn of, before lifting her up in his arm again. Not wanting to leave anything related to the dream with the headmaster. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man, he clearly had his wellbeing in mind. But it was that he couldn't get a grip on him. Through the entire meeting he had been calm, apathetically so. The only emotion he had gotten a glimpse of was sorrow and the faintest trace of pity.
"That went…" Jaune started, voice falling of as they took the elevator down. Not finding the proper words.
"It went… ok? Best case scenario maybe." Ren added with a little nod.
"How do you think the girls will react?" He asked absentmindedly.
"Dibs on not breaking it to them." Ren was quick to call out. "Dibs!" Violet called out right after with a smile. Quick to join in on the fun now that the stiffy atmosphere wasn't chocking her.
Making him wonder again that if going to the headmaster was a good idea. His hand absentmindedly coming to his breast pocket. Knowing that he was going to need something extra if he wasn't going to crumble like a house of cards. 'And this time I won't make anything harmful, maybe. Not harmful for me at least.'
####
Sitting before a crackling fireplace, basking in it's warmth with lungs filled with smoke wasn't how he ever had envisioned his time in Beacon. But here he was. Feeling like an old man as he watched Violet draw the ritual circle on the Workshop floor.
Intuition was an interesting ritual, even if casting it required no more than drawing the ritual circle correctly and activating it. It was a ritual he should cast himself, but he didn't need to know that wandering the streets of Yharnam would cause him harm. He already knew that, intimately. However, there were some rituals from the Perception Aspect he was interested in. Unfortunately, they were put on the backburner for now, the same with his research into the Arcane.
'There is no need to try and force myself to make sense of something I can't get the grasp of. I will work on it later.' Jaune mussed, taking a quick glance into his journal. Multiple blueprints taking up the pages. He still hadn't begun working seriously, but it was an interesting pastime as he watched over his apprentice's first ritual. It didn't matter if he didn't finish today, or tomorrow, as long as he made progress.
'After all, with how valuable the labyrinth is, I will need to inevitable dig deeper.' It was a fact that while he wasn't comfortable with it, it wasn't something he could ignore. The labyrinths riches were many, but so were its challenges. It's influence no doubt growing the deeper he delved.
Using a Cognitive Purge ritual to get rid of its influence wouldn't be cost effective in the long term. His dispel rite had worked, but only for a while. If he was going to really delve, he would need to find a permanent solution.
Unfortunately, that wasn't something he could cook up in a day.
"You forgot something~" He sing-sang absentmindedly, startling Violet and making her almost break a line. She pouted at him, blue eyes scouring over the ritual circle, before noticing her mistake. The letter zeta was written as Z and not ζ as it should have been. She had mixed her big and small letters which was a beginner mistake. Nothing dangerous, but it would still unbalance the ritual. And having her first ritual backfire was a fantastic way to grow vary of rituals. Not something he wanted her to experience.
Chalk decorated her face like warpaint, her fingers turned completely white. She huffed, wiped away sweat and smearing her face with more chalk. Before beginning to finish up the ritual circle. She was on the homestretch, having spent a good hour on drawing it already.
Going back to his own blueprints, he took another puff from his pipe. Mind filled with ways he could improve it. The nicotine doing nothing for him. His body to strong to be affected by Gilbert's pipe weed. Meaning he had to make his own blend. Something he halfway looked forward to and didn't want to touch with a five-mile pole. With all the herbs, plants, and roots, he had at hand, it wouldn't be a challenge to conjure up something that would affect him the same way normal tobacco affected the average person.
'Just that it would be comparing LSD to weed.' Jaune noted absentmindedly. Knowing that he had worse self-preservation instincts than a hamster. Having tested the gallnut broth he found in the labyrinth on himself. Instead of collapsing like a puppet with it's string cut and bleeding from his seven orifices, his left hand only sported irritated skin.
The tar most associated with giving smokers black lungs 'digested' or otherwise handled before it ever became a problem. All other carcinogen that could increase the risk of cancer not affecting him in any way, shape, or form.
"I'm proud of you." Jaune smiled, focusing back on his apprentice. He could think of ways he could ease his nerves with different substances another time. Violet beamed up at him, tiptoeing around her ritual circle before coming over to give him a hug. Dexterous fingers snagging the five candles she would need.
With a bounce in her step she quickly skipped back, and quickly placing the candles around the pentagram. Striking a match and lighting them. A nervous energy radiating of her as she looked at him.
Humming as he looked over the ritual circle, he found no problem. She would have to use a tad bit more spiritually, given that she used chalk as a medium to draw the ritual instead of blood. However he had done the calculations for her, she wouldn't be harmed.
Giving her an encouraging smile, Violet knelt down beside the ritual circle. Taking a deep breath as she laid her hands on it. A chalk white glow briefly lighting up the workshop. A gasp escaping Violet as she fell back. Eagerly looking around, expression falling when she coulndt see anything different. Turning to him for answer instead, her brows scrunching up, a hand racing to her head.
"There is no visual pizazz or other sparkles for most rituals, Violet. But you cast it correctly, you channelled it correctly. So you succeeded." Jaune said softly, standing up and walking over to her. "It would be more correct to call the ritual another 'innate' ability than the effect of a spell, since it's permanent. Or until you consciously will it away. But there is an easy way to check if it works."
"Then why don't you cast it… master?" Violet asked, following him out of the workshop.
"Elementary my dear." Jaune chuckled to himself, taking another puff from his pipe. "Intuition can be trained by experience, making the spell redundant. The ritual is more a shortcut. Not all shortcut's are bad, some are beneficial, others are harmful. You just have to learn to choose between them."
The closer they came to the gravestones; the further Violet fell behind him. Frowning and rubbing a hand on her forehead. "I… don't like it…" She muttered. "It hurts."
"That means the ritual is working." Jaune said, furrowing his brows slightly. "Try thinking differently. I am not taking you out with me on a hunt tonight, as you will need to rest."
While Violet pouted at him, her shoulders eased.
"Prowling the streets of Yharnam is dangerous for me, doubly so for you. Of course your intuition is going to warn you that waking up in Yharnam can lead to harm." Jaune smiled softly, puffing smoke out from his nose.
"I see the hope of tomorrow was successful in her attempt?" The doll chimed in softly.
Violet turned to her and screamed. Blood coming pouring out of her eyes, nose and out from her ears as she screamed.
####
Note: For those curious, Crocea Mors have one Radial, Triangle and Wanning gem.
Note: Current gem slotted: Radial, 1, Physical ATK UP +5.6%, Stamina Cost +2.3%. Not something extremely OP, but a good gem for now.
Note: I never got the scene with the headmaster to just click. It is an important scene to the narrative, but it was a chore to write. Balancing Ozpin's grandfatherness, Glynda's hot temper and the hell space that is Jaune's mind. But it's also one thing to drop one child randomly, dropping another, now that they knew it was a possibility, was something they can't brush over.
Note: Jaune's vice is finaly revealed, which will be smoking pipe. Something that lends it more to Yahrnam than just drowning his sorrows like Qrow, while also being something that helps keeping him together.
Note: For those interested, i have linked my Tumblr to my bio. I never post anything, but it exist.